PA Minister in Trouble for Denouncing Terror Murder

Minister of Religious Trusts spoke out against murder of Israeli policeman, faces calls for him to resign.

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Dalit Halevy, 20/04/14 16:10

Demonstration in Tulkarm

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The Palestinian Authority's Minister of Religious Trusts, Mahmoud al-Habash, cancelled a planned visit to Tulkarm Sunday for the dedication of a new mosque, after many dozens of residents demonstrated against him. The protesters were angry at him for an interview in which he denounced the terror attack in which an Israeli police officer was murdered and said that there is no difference between Palestinian blood and Jewish blood.

This statement did not go down well in the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Hassan Harisha, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian parliament, called for al-Habash to be fired and demanded that additional steps be taken against him, explaining that comparing Palestinian blood to that of Jews was “a shameful and disgraceful thing.”

The Fatah terror movement in Jenin published a similar demand.

The demonstrators in Tulkarm carried posters that featured photos of dead terrorists, which said: “A foreign man who represents only himself – such is he who compares the blood of [Yasser] Arafat, [Sheikh Ahmed] Yassin, [Islamic Jihad founder Fathi] Shikaki and Abu Ali [Mustafa, head of the PFLP], to the blood of Jews. Hanash – your entry into Tulkarm is forbidden.”